Just Once
by BubbaBoom
Summary: “Did you think – just once – that I might have actually liked you?” Troy looked at Gabriella with eyes that could break anyone’s heart. “Cause until this moment, I think I might actually have.” Two-Shot. A story about a dare, heartbreak, and love.
1. Chapter 1

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Hey, I'm BubbaBoom. So we'll see how this two-shot goes. This is my first story. Hope you like it! Remember to review!

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"Did you think – just once – that I might have actually liked you?" Troy looked at Gabriella with eyes that could break anyone's heart. "Cause until this moment, I think I might actually have." This is how a dare can lead to heartbreak. But who knows? Sometimes heartbreak is all you need to find the one you love.

Just Once

**Gabriella's POV**

Why did I agree to this? Why couldn't I have chosen truth? Anything but this!

I, Gabriella Montez, am finding myself walking down a hallway that has been exploded by red and white. Usually I would be walking to A.P Chemistry, or the bulletin boards, or even my best friend Taylor.

But today, I'm walking to someone. A male. An arrogant male. A male that just so happens to be the captain of the basketball team. Yeah that's right. I'm walking towards Troy Bolton.

And why? Because of a stupid dare…

_Flashback_

_"Dare." I said. More like squeaked. Taylor and Sharpay looked at each other. You could tell by their faces that I was going to regret not going the safe path of truth. Sharpay, especially, had a huge mischievous smirk. _

_She quickly whispered something into Taylor's ear. Since her reaction consisted of huge eyes and a wide open smile, I knew this wasn't going to be good._

_The suspense was torture. "Just spit it out already. It can't be that bad." I said. Boy was I wrong. _

_"We dare you to –" Sharpay started. By then, the suspense already shot me. Killed me. And sent me to heaven. _

_"kiss Troy." _

Every step I took was like a step towards the sun. I was getting sweatier. My palms were dripping. My heartbeat replicated an intense series of drum beats. Thoughts were rushing through my mind like never before.

_"What if he beats me up? What if I get humiliated for the rest of my living daylight? What if he spreads rumors that I came on to him? What if…" _Ok Gabriella, breathe.

If only Taylor and Sharpay weren't spying on me from behind the plant. Pssh, and they think nobody can see them. Losers...

Then, I suddenly noticed something. Let's just say I wasn't happy about it. If anything, it just made me ten times more nervous. Oh god.

I'm only a few steps away from Troy.

5

4

3

2

1

"Hi?" a deep, masculine voice said.

I looked up. His gorgeous crystal blue eyes shined like the ocean did during perfect lighting. His eyebrows were slightly slanted and his mouth of squeezed shut. All signs of confusion.

"I...um…uh…" I froze. This was bad. "I'm…..uh…."

What should I do? I looked like a maniac standing there rambling. _How did I not notice he was THIS hot? _My mouth opened but nothing came out. All the intelligence I had completely disappeared from me as I did the first thing that came to my mind. I held my breath and closed the small space between us.

Our lips met.

**Troy's POV**

You know those days where nothing fits? The day where nothing seems the same? The day when everything is out of the ordinary?

Well today is one of those days.

My hair was glistening from all the tough basketball training my dad forced upon us. When practice was over I went to my locker to get something out of it. As soon as I look up, I see this shaky innocent girl standing fairly close to me. I wasn't really complaining about it.

_Wow she's…attractive _

I couldn't help but think that. She _was_ unbelievable gorgeous. On the downside, she looked panicked. Really panicked. "Hi?"

**She took one step towards me.**

_Oh god, what should I do? _

**And another step…**

_Breathe in Troy. She's probably just going to walk pass you._

**One more step closer.**

_Why does she have to be so beautiful? _

**Fourth step in progress…**

_Talk about invasion of privacy._

**T****OUCHDOWN!**

_speechless  
_

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**Gabriella's POV**

I did it. I actually did it. After what seemed like 24 hours, I stepped away.

My body shook so much that people probably thought I was having a seizure at that very moment. Also, nothing could stop my eyes from being any wider.

To sum up, I was shocked that I actually had the guts to kiss him. Then, I looked up into his eyes. I learned one thing.

Troy Bolton was one unreadable person.

I saw his jaw trying to open. I could tell he wanted to say something, but he didn't know the right words to use. When a couple seconds passed by, he fully opened his mouth.

"That was–"

"AHH! Gabriella! Oh my god! You better come here at his very moment! NOW! DETAILS! DETAILS!" Did I mention Sharpay and Taylor had the worst timing?

Before I knew it, I was being dragged away.

What I didn't know was that if I stayed a few seconds longer, or in this case if Taylor and Sharpay waited a few seconds longer, I would have seen the love struck eyes and the heartfelt smile that belonged to the one and only Troy Bolton.

The only thing was, I didn't see it.

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It was now lunchtime. I got in line with Taylor. "I'm _so _glad that was over!" I exclaimed. She glared at me.

"What?" I asked.

"You know you enjoyed that kiss. It was obvious!" I rolled my eyes. "No! Even If I did, Troy didn't even know who I was! To him, I just like a speck of dust. Barely noticeable. I'm just glad that I'm done with guys for now. I swear, If I get anymore guy–"

Sharpay rushed in. Her chest went up and down quickly as she gulped in a giant gasp of air. "You will never guess what I just found out!"

"You didn't make it into the drama play?" Taylor asked, sarcastically.

Sharpay looked at her, "Why in the world would I NOT make it?" Before Taylor could answered Sharpay went on.

"Anyway! I heard from little birdie that Grant Michael has a crush on Gabriella!" she yelled.

Shocked wasn't even enough to describe the feeling I was having. More like overly-done-to-the-point-of-burned-cookies-and-no-return shock. Yeah, that describes it well enough.

"Grant Michael, the soccer captain?" I shouted. "He has a crush on me?"

Sharpay nodded.

"Me?"

Sharpay nodded again.

"Are you sure it's me?"

Sharpay nodded for the third time.

"You sure there isn't another Gabriella Montez that he likes?"

"Okay! If I nod one more time, my neck will fall off!" shrieked Sharpay.

"But there is no way that Grant could like–" I stopped when I saw a tall figure step behind Sharpay. He was about 5'7, had the most adorable brown eyes, and was standing there in a shirt that said, "Soccer Captain."

Right behind Sharpay was Grant Michael.

"Hey Gabriella."

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**Troy's POV **

**_Right before lunch_  
**

My buddy, Chad and I walked back inside from the outside basketball court. We both decided to shoot baskets during free period. Right now we were heading to the locker rooms.

"Dude, you got your game on today! No misses? What ever crack you took, you better take during the championships." Chad joked.

I laughed. We finally got to the locker rooms and I opened the door. After sitting down on the bench in front of my locker, I continued.

"I didn't take any crack, I'm not that stupid." I said back while untying my shoes. Chad slightly chuckled.

"Well what ever happened must have gotten you in a good mood."

I stopped untying as I thought about what happened earlier that day. It was so sudden but I couldn't stop thinking about it.

After Sharpay and Taylor dragged her away, I couldn't help but feeling amazing. I had a tingly feeling that was indescribable. I felt just plain old great. _Gabriella..._

"Yo Captain!"

I snapped back into reality.

"You okay, man?" said Chad worriedly. "Yeah, I'm great." I smiled back. Chad simply nodded then headed towards the showers.

I inhaled deeply still in daze. I thought about her once more. _Gabriella._ Then, I headed into the showers.

About twenty minutes later, Chad and I were all freshened up. After gathering all our stuff, we headed to the cafeteria. We met up with our basketball team in "our" table.

As soon as Chad saw food, he engulfed half of it down right then and there.

"Slow down, Chad! It's nasty seeing you in your zen mode." said Zeke. The team laughed.

"I can't help it! Bolton and I worked up a storm outside. He was on fire today!" Chad replied stuffing more fries into his mouth. I looked at him in disgust. Man, how does he get all that food down? I turned my eyes away from him to keep from upchucking.

That's when my eyes fell on Gabriella. I couldn't help but grin when I saw her but when I looked slightly to the left, my grin soon disintegrated.

Standing there was a guy that I had deep hatred for. Grant Michael. What was he doing with my girl?

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**Gabriella's POV**

Let me recap you in. I was standing in the lunch line with Taylor when Sharpay rushed in. She told me Grant Michael had a crush on me and that's when Grant Michael himself showed up. Now I'm walking next to him to the soccer field holding my lunch.

When we got to the very center, Grant signaled me to sit.

I sat on the grass and picked up an apple slice. As I crunched on it, Grant took a loud slurp of his soda. We spent the first few minutes like this, awkward with food.

Grant looked at me, "So Gabriella. Um, I wanted to talk to you about something." I looked back at him.

"Yeah?"

Grant cleared his throat. "You see, um. Uh, I really like you. A lot." Grant tore his eyes away from me. You could tell he was really nervous.

I was silent for a few moments. "Grant." I said to try to get his attention. His eyes snapped back at me. "I–"

_RRRRRRRIIINNNNGGGGGG_

At the sound of the warning bell, both of us quickly hopped off and ran inside. I was about to run to class when Grant interrupted me.

"So are you going to say anything about what I told you?" he asked with hopeful eyes.

I still wasn't sure what to do at that moment. After what happened earlier, I felt something for Troy. But at the same time, I felt something for Grant too.

But, I still gave him an answer.

"I like you too." With that, Grant backed up and went to class, grinning. When he was no where to be seen, I turned around to get to my class. Only to be met up with a very sad and angry Troy Bolton.

"WHAT WAS THAT!" he screamed. His face was boiling like the sun in Arizona. What did I do wrong? "What was what?" I innocently asked.

"You just told Grant Michael that you liked him!" exclaimed Troy. "What's so wrong with that?" I fought back.

He looked at me like I was a crazy lunatic.

"For the record, GABRIELLA, you dont fucking kiss a guy and then run off to someone else!" he shouted with anger. "Troy! It's not like you cared about me in the first place! You probably didn't even know who I was before today."

He looked down and didn't make a noise. "Stop acting like you care about me when we both know you don't!" I yelled.

He shook his head, still facing the ground. Troy rose his head and gave me a deadly glare that I wouldn't forget.

"Did you think – just once – that I might have actually liked you?" Troy looked at me with eyes that could break anyone's heart. "Cause until this moment, I think I might actually have."

I was speechless. We stared at each other for a long time. After Troy noticed I wasn't going to say anything useful anytime soon, he stomped off.

_Did I ever think about his feelings? _That thought bothered me the whole day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey Everyone! BubbaBoom Here... Truthfully, I wasn't expecting anyone to actually read the story. So I'm pretty shocked but very happy that people actually reviewed and liked it! Thanks guys! So here is part two of the two-shot. PLEASE REVIEW! Hope you enjoy.**

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Disclaimer: I don't own High School Musical

Chapter 2

Just Once

**Gabriella's POV**

"Reservations under Michael."

The waiter quickly skimmed the list of names, saw ours, and led the way to our table. He handed us our menus and scurried off to another customer.

It has been a week since that day happened. It was a day full of non-stop drama, after drama, after drama.

Troy and I haven't spoke since the day he confronted me. To say I felt bad was an understatement. On Thursday, Grant asked me out to dinner. As you can see, I accepted knowing that Troy probably wasn't going to talk to me ever again.

Now, here we are. Reading menus and sharing small talk.

"So have you been to this place before?" Grant wondered. I took in my surroundings. "Never but it's nice." I replied.

We were at a fancy Italian restaurant. Though the feeling of being in a formal world was flattering, I'd much rather be in a small, homey diner eating burgers and milkshakes.

I glanced at the menu, reading all the choices. "What would you suggest to eat?" I asked, not knowing what to get. Grant looked up at me and smiled.

"My favorite is the ravioli. But, they have their own take on fettachini alfredo that is so good."

I looked at the menu once more and saw what he was talking about. "The Original Fettachini Alfredo?"

He nodded, "Exactly."

Five minutes later the waiter arrived. "You guys want to start off with some drinks?"

Grant said, "Yes, sir. But I think we are also ready for food too."

We then said our orders and within forty minutes we got our food. Grant suddenly stood up.

"Hey, Gabriella. I'm going to head to the bathroom."

"Alright."

After he left, I leaned back on my chair. Don't get me wrong, I was having a good time but something didn't click. There was something missing. But, I couldn't find out what. My mind immediately flashed to Troy. My heart began to beat faster; something that didn't happen when I saw Grant.

Why was I thinking of another man on a date? And this wasn't just any man. This was a man who barely knew me, yelled at me, and a didn't speak a word to me this whole week.

Yet, It was a man who never left my head.

"I'm back. Miss me?" joked Grant.

I giggled a bit. "Well of course I did. You were gone for soooooo long." I joked back.

"Are you ready to get out of here?"

"Sure, let's go."

For some reason, I was kind of glad to get out of the place.

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We arrived at the front of my house. Grant stopped the car and pulled the keys out of the engine.

"I had fun." He simply said. I didn't respond.

"Here, I'll walk you to the door." He unleashed his seatbelt and went on the other side. He opened my door and I got out. "You don't have to." I defended.

Grant shook his head, "Of course I do."

The next ten seconds walking to the door was pretty awkward. Deep inside, I knew I just wanted to go inside and end the night.

I looked at Grant to say goodnight just to be met by his eyes closed, his lips puckered, and his heading leaning in.

Oh man, he wanted a kiss.

By then, I was tired of forcing myself. I just let my body do what it wanted to do.

It just so happened that my body wanted to jerk backwards as soon as his lips almost connected with mine.

At that very moment I realized something.

Grant and I weren't meant to be...

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"I'm sorry, Grant. This isn't right." I told him.

He had sorrowful eyes. "What isn't right?"

"Us." I took a deep breath and continued, "We don't have a connection. There was no spark between us. I think it's best if we dont go out with each other right now."

He looked down for a long time. Eventually, his feet walked step by step, away. Before he wasn't able to be seen, he turned around.

"Is there someone else?" he asked. This left me silent for a few moments. Was it because of Troy? Was I really falling for someone I barely knew?

"You could say that."

That's when I realized yet another thing.

I fell in love with Troy.

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**Troy's POV**

It was around 11 o'clock, an hour till midnight. My parents were out and I needed to relieve my mind.

My head was filled with a lot of heavy thoughts and deep emotion that it hurt. Everyday seemed to be getting worst and worst. Tonight, wasn't an exception. I looked to my right and saw my orange basketball sitting alone by the window.

I really had to go shoot some hoops.

I grabbed my basketball, put on my East High hoodie and left the house. Even though we had a basketball court in our backyard, I needed to get away from my own house.

I got in my car and drove to the local park. I loved that place. Every time I needed to think, the park was the place to go. The fresh scent of nature and the scenery of trees was you needed to calm down.

No one was around, perfect. I could finally be alone.

I started dribbling and running from the half court line. I ran towards the the hoop and successfully did a lay up. I smiled. I loved the feeling of success.

I decided to run to the three point line. I bent my knees, let go of the ball, and happily saw it reach the hoop. Score. I repeated my actions several times.

I felt myself getting tired, but I never felt the pain. I just kept going. No breaks, no water.

I moved on to shooting free throws. Shot by shot, the ball went in.

_See, I dont care about Gabriella. She means nothing to me._

I flung the ball in the air, and for the first time, it bounced off the backboard into my arms. I looked up at the hoop.

Could this be a sign?

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**Gabriella's POV**

It has been a couple of hours since my date with Grant. I've been stuck in my room since then. Right now, I felt locked up in a tiny little box. I needed to get out of here.

I grabbed my keys and headed downstairs. Right before I opened the front door, I realized that I've been so caught up this week that I didn't fill up my gas tank.

I groaned.

I threw my keys on the couch and decided to walk. A little exercise wouldn't kill, right?

It was pretty cold out. Luckily, I loved the cold weather.

Truthfully, I wasn't thinking as I walked. I didn't control where I was going. It felt like my feet took over and had a plan to where I was going to go.

I saw that they took me to the local park. I sighed and walked in.

The aroma of fresh wood and flowers welcomed me as I entered. I stopped and inhaled deeply.

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

Who else would be here at eleven at night?

Curiosity got the better of me and I began to follow the noise. As I got closer, it sounded like someone was playing basketball.

_Troy_

Gosh, I need to stop thinking about him.

Wait a minute, TROY?

"What are you doing here at this time?" a voice caught off my thinking.

Troy held his basketball with two hands and was turned towards me.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Troy slightly nodded. He turned around and shot the ball once again. _Swish._

Once he retrieved the ball, he came towards me. He came close enough to me before he stopped. We both kept silent.

"We need to talk." We both said at the same time. I began to laugh like crazy. Troy joined in, but personally, I think he just laughed at my own laugh. We calmed down a few seconds later. Troy sat the basketball down on the ground and walked to the nearby bench. I followed him.

He started to speak, "So how are you and Grant." He looked away, obviously not wanting to know the answer.

"It wasn't right." I simply stated. Troy's head snapped towards me. "Really?"

"Yeah. Today he took me to some fancy Italian restaurant. It was really fun but we didn't really have that spark that you'd expect." Troy chuckled a bit. "What?"

"It's just that I'm more of a small town, diner kind of guy."

Wow, was this guy some kind of mind reader?

"I....uh...." I didn't know what to say next. "No, it's my turn to talk." Troy said. Thank god.

"This is a really weird feeling. Before you kissed me, I never knew you existed. You kind of just showed up. But, after that kiss...I felt...great." He stopped for a while. "When I heard you tell Grant you liked him, it felt like I was being shot; right in the heart. The whole day, I was looking forward to getting to know you and in a matter of seconds, it all changed."

"Wow." I commented.

"The next day, I thought it wasn't going to bother me anymore. I thought I was just going to move on in my life. But, no. I kept thinking about you. I didn't know one fact about you but I still couldn't get you out of my mind."

He looked me right in the eye and grabbed my hands.

"I... I think I love you Gabriella."

My eyes widened and my heart skipped a beat. He said, "I've been with a lot of girls. I never said I love you to any of them. I knew I liked them though. The feeling I got when I thought of you was completely different then the feelings I got with those other girls. That means I dont _just_ like you, right?"

I slowly nodded, still unsure.

"This why I THINK I love you. And I hope you'll give me the chance to find out if I really do."

"So what are you saying?" I asked. I felt his palms shaking in my hands.

"Gabriella Montez, will you be my girlfriend?"

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"Babe, come back here!" I heard Troy yell behind me. I turned my head, and stuck my tongue out at him. "I bet you can't catch me!" I exclaimed.

I ran away from him, panting.

It has been a year since he asked me out.

Let me tell you, saying yes was the best decision I have EVER made. Troy was the most amazing guy I have ever met. We had so much in common and unlike Grant, the spark was there.

Right now, Troy and I were at his backyard. Who knows what caused this to happen but now he was chasing me all over the place. Boy, I loved this guy.

After a matter of minutes, I gave up and slowed down. "Mercy!" I screamed. I could hear Troy laugh.

I put my hands on my knees and bent down, trying to catch my breath. When suddenly I felt two arms wrap around me and twirl me in the air. "Troy! Put me down!"

"Never!" All he did was spin me faster.

I kept beating against his back trying to get down. Eventually, I fell out of his arms and we ended up cuddled on the grass. I laid my head on his chest.

Troy brushed my hair out of my face and whispered, "I love you." I shivered in pleasure. He didn't even let me respond back, his lips were already captured into mine. I deepened the kiss and wrapped my legs around his waist.

It didn't matter that I couldn't respond, he knew I loved him more anyway.

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**The End! Thank you for reading! PLEASE REVIEW! Tell me if you liked it! Loved it! or hated it! I love to hear feedback. **

**Take care, BubbaBoom.  
**


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